How different is Inq-ITS? Well, it is taking me two weeks to explain exactly how Inq-ITS made a difference. Thank you for coming back to check out the blog and the pieces of Inq-ITS that make it uniquely valuable for educators.
For Educators:
Before I started using Inq-ITS, I had to track student progress across the course of the school year AND I had to demonstrate that every single student showed progress. I was spending a minimum of 8 weekends a year just on this one task. It was exhausting. Enter Inq-ITS, I started using Inq-ITS and I spent maybe an hour putting the data together in a spreadsheet for my administrator. It was life-changing.
Prior to beginning teaching, I thought my passion was going to be working with talented kids and helping them to excel. It turned out that... I was wrong. Kids like me, kind of annoy me. I said it out loud. Yikes! My passion quickly became helping the kiddo who was too quiet to even ask for help. Seeing the sparkle in their eyes and the self confidence that sparked when they "got" it made my day, heck, my year. The alerts in the Inq-ITS system are like a little flag waving over the head of a student who is stuck, but too embarrassed to say anything. With the alert you can see who needs help exactly when they need it and it even gives you the text to say to them. An alert to help ignite a spark in a quiet kid is worth its weight in gold.
Being able to sit down with a student, parent, or administrator with Inq-ITS reports and refer to data regarding student competencies in their Science Practices was game-changing. Suddenly, it wasn’t just me saying that little Johnny needs to work on warranting his claims with evidence. Often, students who are really great at filling out worksheets struggle when a task calls for critical thinking skills. With Inq-ITS, I had the support I needed to reinforce the importance of these competencies.
As teachers, we hear that we need to use data to inform instruction, but it is difficult to utilize data that arrives five months after the school year ends. With Inq-ITS, teachers can utilize the formative assessments to get the data they need to tailor their instruction. By scaffolding students’ needs, teachers can help their students to progress and be able to demonstrate growth.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need assistance. We are here to help and passionate about helping you light a spark in your students.